Brain-dead pregnant woman Adriana Smith delivers baby boy while on life support

Adriana Smith was declared brain-dead months ago. But because she was pregnant, her body remained on life support — not to save her, but to sustain the fetus she carried. According to a report on NBC, her baby boy was delivered this Friday via emergency C-section in Georgia. He weighed just 1 pound, 13 ounces (0.82 kilos) and is currently fighting for his life in the NICU. His name is Chance.

Smith, a 31-year-old mother of one, had suffered a catastrophic brain injury in February after seeking help for severe headaches. According to her family, she was initially seen at Northside Hospital and discharged with medication. The next morning, her boyfriend found her gasping for air. A CT scan later revealed multiple blood clots in her brain. She was declared brain-dead shortly after.

But Smith’s story didn’t end there. Because she was pregnant — and because Georgia’s near-total abortion ban, known as the LIFE Act, prohibits abortion after about six weeks — her family said they were told she had to remain on life support. Machines kept her lungs inflating. Her heart kept beating. But her brain was no longer functioning.

“It’s like she was gone, but not allowed to go,” her mother, April Newkirk, told NBC affiliate WXIA.

The LIFE Act, passed in 2019 and made law after the fall of Roe v. Wade, bans abortions once fetal cardiac activity is detected — usually around six weeks. It includes exceptions for rape or incest (if reported to police), serious fetal anomalies, or when the mother’s life is at risk.

In fact, Georgia’s Attorney General’s Office told NBC News in May that “nothing in the LIFE Act requires medical professionals to keep a woman on life support after brain death.” Removing a patient from life support, they added, “is not an action with the purpose to terminate a pregnancy.”

Despite that clarification, Smith remained on machines for months. Some have argued hospitals may be erring on the side of caution to avoid legal backlash, especially in politically charged environments.

State Senator Ed Setzler, who authored the LIFE Act, defended the decision to keep Smith’s body functioning.

“It is completely appropriate that the hospital do what they can to save the life of the child,” he told The Associated Press.

For Smith’s family, the months have been excruciating. “It’s hard to process,” her mother said. With the baby now delivered, the family plans to discontinue life support. They’ve named the infant Chance — a symbol, perhaps, of hope born from heartbreak.